Mobile Email: Optimize or Perish

Seventy. It's a number that should make a marketer's blood run chilly.

Why? Because 70% of smartphone users will immediately delete an email that doesn't display correctly on their mobile device. Seventy is also the percentage of the world's population that currently has a mobile device. Add to that the fact that almost half of all email, about 42%, is opened on mobile devices, and you've got a #scary situation.

Now, math isn't my forte, but that seems like a pretty convincing argument in favor of email optimization to me.

Mobile-ready email was the topic under discussion at a StrongMail-sponsored TweetChat (#StrongMobile) on March 27 hosted by Direct Marketing News. We had Eric Lepetit (@ericlepetitsf), StrongMail's mobile campaign strategist, on hand to answer optimization questions and talk mobile email do's and don'ts.

For example, subject lines are more important now than ever. As TweetChat participant @fionalandrews pointed out: “It better have an awesome subject line for me to check on my laptop later, or I'll delete it!”

It's a good point. I don't know a single person who says they get too little email. With the glut of messaging out there, there's not much motivation to click on something mediocre.

Speaking of click-throughs, or shall I say tap-throughs, only about 2% of people who first view an email on a mobile device look at it again later on a desktop. Mobile users also want their emails hot and fast when they're checking messages on a phone. If an email's confusing, or it's not clear where to tap, best case scenario the user will delete it. Worst case scenario, if it happens enough, that user might disengage with the brand completely in a frustrated huff.

But follow some mobile email best practices, and you should be in the clear. Tweeter @valthinks asked Eric if there is “a magic formula for a number of links or is it simply all about clean messages?”

@valthinks Stats say that the more links the better. Clean for clarity and engagement. You have 2 sec to grab the attention. #strongmobile

OK, enough fear-mongering. Here's a number that'll turn that frown upside down: 120, as in a 120% decrease in disengagement for optimized emails. That's what StrongMail's seen for the messages it mobile-optimizes for its clients. That and a more than 24% increase in click-through rates.

Really, when it comes to mobile-ready messaging, the only person standing in your way is you. Get smart about optimization and the world is your mobile email oyster.

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